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8.29.2016

Half Marathon Recap!

And by conquer, I use that term loosely. 15 weeks of training. Lots of
miles. Lots of sweat. And maybe the loss of a toenail after the race.
Yes friends, that really happened. When you run as much as I did, and
then put in 13 miles, your feet get TORN UP. But that's okay. Nothing some nail vitamins can't fix.

Let's
start with the morning of. I got up at 5AM because I wanted to make
sure that I could get in a good breakfast and still have enough time for
it to settle before race time. I had some scrambled eggs, whole wheat
english muffin with peanut butter, and some coffee. I did not want to
stray away from my normal routine that I had been using while training.
[Note to any new runners: Never try to do anything new on race day. This
includes your shoes/what you wear. You have a routine/habit...keep it
that way.]

I got dressed and was just anxious. I paced
around, and I laid back down in bed and scrolled through Snapchat to
just take my mind off it. It was finally time to leave and my dad drove
us to the start line which was at Kidd Brewer Stadium at App State. The
whole time he was talking about food on the way, and I had to ask him to
stop because I legit felt SICK. I don't know what it is about me but
any big event I get nervous/sick. Call me a wimp. I wasn't nervous about
the running part at all. Just the event itself. If that makes sense?

So
we get out of the car, and I am legit choking back tears. Y'all, I
can't even lie about this. When I say I am a wimp, I am. HAHA! We walk
into the stadium and Brian is calm cool and collected...at least from
what I can see. He starts to put on his arm band & get situated
& what happens to me? Tears are rolling down my face. I am laughing
writing this because I don't know what came over me.

We
walk up to use the bathroom one more time & he made me eat a couple
bites of banana even though I wanted to vomit all due from my nerves.
We warmed up around the track for a lap and then saw Alison's dad. Once
we started talking to him, I was ok. The nerves went away & I was ready to go.

We started the race and it was great. It was hilly
mountainous but it was FUN! Mile 6-7 was all downhill and I got some
serious pace on that mile. The weather was perfect. It was not hot at
all. THANK YOU LORD! Slightly muggy in some parts but it was FABULOUS. I
had a great time.

We hit the last mile and guess what
started to happen? If you guessed more crying, you are CORRECT. I ugly
cried my way across the finish line and ran straight to my Daddy. Are
you noticing a trend here from past posts? HAHA! It was really emotional
for me because a half marathon was something I did not think I could
ever do and I did it. I put in a lot of miles to get there and it all
coming to an end was just awesome. I did that race SOLELY for me.

My
parents and grandparents were there along with 2 of my girlfriends!
SHOUT OUT to Rach & Alison. And my other SNEAKY girlfriends had all
sent cards to my parents' house along with a care package that I got
before the race. You ladies rock.

B had finished before
me and he was right there! It was great and I was happy that I did it.
Lauren already asked me if I would do another...and the answer is
yes...most definitely yes. The training I put in totally prepared me for
it. My goal is to finish under 2:32 next time. And yes, I have already
started looking at races for the end of the year...just not half way
across the country.

So
there is my recap of the race...I finished and I cried. I can't stop
laughing about it. Maybe next time I won't be so emotional??